1077 (thing)

In the year of 1077, at Canossa, King Henry IV of Germany (1056-1106)
submitted to Pope Gregory VII. The king sought pardon of the
pope, and (as the legend goes) stood
barefoot in the snow outside the papal quarters for three days.
Some described this incident as the peak of medieval papal power.
After that Henry IV arranged the election of an antipope. This
struggle of power errupted into a war that lasted from 1077
until 1122, when they came to a compromise.

The legend of this struggle (the 3 days of waiting) is sometimes used in
reference to similar stories in our time, such as concordats and
other church related madness, which will always be around. It is not,
however, a story commonly heared, and no one really knows of it.